Unit 1- Section 4: Understand the target audiences of media products

Key Terms Summary-

Mainstream Audience- An audience that consumes a product that appeals to a wide range of age groups

Niche Audience- The audience of a specialist interest media product that may only appeal to a small number of people or those that fall within a specific demographic profile (e.g. ethnicity or age)

Demographics- When media producers study the breakdown of their target audiences based on variables in age, ethnicity, gender, economic status or class, level of education, hobbies and interests and lifestyle choices

Psychographics- Profiling of audience members based on their personal beliefs values, interests and lifestyle

NRS social grades- A method of classifying demographics based on occupation and income, developed by the National Readership Survey

RAJAR- The acronym for Radio Joint Audience Research, which collates listening figures for over 300 Radio station across the UK

BARB- The acronym for Broadcasters Audience Research Board which collates viewing figures for all the major UK broadcasters such as BBC, ITV and Sky

Imaginary Entity- A term that suggests media producers have a specific audience member in mind before they plan a media product

Audience Profile- The specific demographic variables of an average target audience member for a given media product based on age, gender, income, ethnicity and interests, that makes them desirable to advertisers and commercial companies.